Cargo-hatches



July 25, 1961 E. E. VON TELL ARGOHA 2 Sheets-sh l Dec 5 INVENTOR y 1.951 E. E. VON TELL 2,993,536

CARGO-HATCI-IES Filed Dec. 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 'M "I H M! IWW '1 I. I'HI' IIHIWWH lll UM W 11W!!!" j,

INVENTOR United States Patent 2,993,536 CARGO-HATCHES Edward Elias von Tell, Frolundagatan 20, Goteborg C, Sweden Filed Dec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,510 Claims priority, application Sweden, Dec. 31, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 160-206) The present invention refers to cargo-hatches of the type comprising at least three sections pivotally connected to one another by means of hinges, one of the two outermost of these sections being pivotally connected to the frame of the hatch and the section situated closest to the pivot axis, designated the first section, and the adjacent section, designated the second section, being adapted at the opening up of the hatch to be lifted in such a way that their lower sides will be turned towards each other and a further section, designated the third section, in lifted position will be situated with its upper side against the upper side of the second section.

For the opening up of hatches of the type comprising sections, it has hitherto been necessary to arrange a rope, a wire or the like at the pivot between the first and the second section and another rope or the like at the outer border of the third section. At the closing a pulling rope is again arranged at said outer border of the third section but a holding-on has to be applied at the pivot between the first and the second sections so as to prevent these sections from falling down too rapidly against the frame of the hatch. In recent days, ships have been provided with an hydraulic device for the opening and closing of their hatches. However, such hydraulic devices are rather expensive and spacious. For the opening up and closing of the hatches more time is used than by means of a rope operated by a winch and pulleys.

The present invention provides for an improvement and a simplification of the opening up and closing of cargo-hatches by means of a rope or the like. The main feature of the invention is that the third section of the cargo-hatch is provided with at least one downwardly directed arm which, at the opening up of the hatch, is adapted to cooperate at its free end with a guide rail starting from the neighbourhood of the hatch opening and extending obliquely downwards in the direction towards the border of the hatch frame where the pivot is situated. Due to said arm it is only necessary to apply the pulling at the opening up of the hatch at the pivot between the first and second sections, and at the closing no extra hold-on is required. Still the closing is performed softly and without any shock. The downwardly directed arm also serves as a side guide for the hatch sections.

The invention will be explained in the following description with reference had to. the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a cargo-hatch according to. the invention in a partial, vertical, longitudinal section, said hatch having three sections,

FIG. 2 is a similar side elevation of a hatch having four sections,

FIG. 2a is a similar side elevation showing the forward end of the hatch shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation on the line HIIII in FIG. 2 of the right hand corner, this figure showing the hatch in opened position.

FIG. 4 shows on an enlarged scale a side elevation of the pivot of the first section at the rear border of the hatch frame, and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the pivot according to FIG. 4.

In FIG. 1, 1 designates the frame of an opening of a cargo-hold, covered by a hatch comprising three sections 2, 3 and 4, section 2 of the same being designated the first 2,993,536 Patented July 25, 1961 section, section 3 the second section and section 4 the third section. These sections are pivotally interconnected by means of hinges 5 and 6, respectively, the first section 2 being connected with the frame 1 by means of a pivot 7 situated at some distance from the rear border 8 of the frame 1. The pivot comprises a plurality, e.g. four, coaxial and somewhat spaced pivot bolts 9, each one of them passing an oblong aperture 10 in a rearwardly directed pivot arm 11 on the first hatch section 2. On either side of each one of the pivot arms, two pivot plates '12, 13 extend upwards, and between these plates and the pivot arm are inserted friction disks 14, preferably of a fibrous material. Each one of the pivot bolts 9 which at one end is shaped as a head 16 having a ring 15 passes freely the pivot plate 12 and is on the opposite side screwed into a nut 17 attached to the outer surface of the pivot plate 13, preferably by Welding.

Two curved arms 21 (only one of them shown in FIG. 1) extended from the third section 4 in the vicinity of the hinge 6 downwards in the opening 18 of the cargo-hold on the inside of the longitudinal side walls 19 and 20 of the hatch frame. At the free end, the arms 21 are provided with a shoulder 22 directed towards respective longitudinal side wall 19, 20 of the frame, In the movement path of this shoulder 22 at the opening up of the hatch a guide rail 23 extends from the upper border of the frame 1 obliquely downwardly to the rear border 8 of the frame, said rail being for instance in the form of a flat bar or an angle iron attached to the frame. When the arms 21- extend along the inner side of the'longitudinal side walls 19, 20 of the frame 1, they will serve as guides for the hatch sections 2, 3, 4. Side guides, e.g. in theform of guide blocks or rolls, are thus not necessary for said sections.

In order to open the hatch, the hook 24 on the pulling rope 25 or the like is applied in a ring 26 on the section 3 in the vicinity of the hinge 5. When pulling in the rope 25, the sections 2 and 3 are caused to form an angle wi th each other as shown in FIG. 1 while thesection 4 slides on the frame 1 in the direction towards the pivot 7. When the shoulder 22 reaches the guide rail 23, the section 4 is swung in clockwise direction about the hinge 6. *In opened position, the sections 2, 3, 4 stand vertically over the rear border 8 of the frame 1. At the closing of the hatch, the pull is applied at the free longitudinal border of the section 4 (the left hand border according to FIG. 1 In order to prevent the sections 2, 3, 4 at the closing from falling down with a shock against the frame 1, the pivot bolts 9 are tightened so hard (the tightening may be performed by means of a rod, inserted in the ring 15) that the required friction is obtained between the guide plates, the friction plates 14 and the pivot arms 11. This friction also prevents the shoulder 22 from leaving its guide rail 23 during the lowering of the section 4.

In FIG. 2, the invention is shown when used at; a hatch having four sections. The fourth section is denoted with 27 and is its free on t din har er Pr v d t a ring 28 adapted for the insertion of the book 29 on the pulling rope 30 which is used at the closing and which is laid over the drum of a winch (not shown in the drawings). The fourth section 27 and the third section 4 are pivotally interconnected by means of a hinge 31. As a modification, the arms 21 in FIG. 2 are shown in such a way that they, starting from the hatch section 4, extend on the outer (instead of the inner) side of the longitudinal walls 19 and 20 of the frame 1. The guide rail 23 cooperating with the shoulders 22 is also arranged on the outer side of the frame 1.

The opening up and the closing of the hatch shown in FIG. 2 is performed in about the same way as with the hatch shown in FIG. 1. The hook 24 on the rope 25 is brought to engagement with the ring 26 on the hatch section 3, and at the'pulling in are first swung to the position shown in FIG. 2 while the sections 4 and 27 slide along the frame 1. When the shoulder reaches the guide rail 23, the section 4 is swung in clockwise direction while the section 27 slides along the frame 1 by means of sliding blocks 32. In opened position (shown with dash and dot lines in FIG. 2), the hatch sections 2 and 3 will be situated with their lower sides against each other and also the sections 4 and 27 with their lower sides against each other. Also the closing of the hatch comprising four sections 2, 3, 4, 27 takes place softly and without shocks due to the friction between the disks 14 and the pivot arms 11 and due to the cooperation of the arms 21 with the shoulders 22 and the guiding rails 23.

The shown and described embodiments are to be regarded only as examples and the construction of the sections and the frame 1 may be modified in different ways within the scope of the invention. Also other devices could be used for obtaining the necessary friction at the pivot 7. The ring 26 may eventually be arranged on the section 2 adjacent the hinge instead of being arranged this rope the sections 2 and 3 on the section 3. It is advisable to provide the longitudinal border of the section 27 and eventually also the section 4 with a longitudinal steel wire attached with its ends to respective corners of said, sections 4, 27. The hook 29 'may then be easily brought to engagement at one end of the steel wire and thereupon be moved along the same in such a way that it will be situated in front of the winch drum. The hatch may comprise more than four sections, e.g. six. In such a case, the fifth section is provided with an arm or with arms 21. No extra guide rail 23 is, however, necessary.

What I claim is:

1. In a hatch, the combination of a frame having an end member and side walls; a cover comprising at least three sections, which when in normally closed position have lower surfaces lying in about the same plane; a plusecond section having fast to the third section at least one i with means for squeezing the platestoward each other.

arm having an outer end extending vbelow said second section, and a guide rail fast with respect to the frame adjacent aside wall thereof and inclined downwardly to the end member for engaging over the outer end of the arm to force the outer end down and pivot about the hinging between the second and third section to, turn the third section toward vertical position when that section and the arm are moved generally toward the end member.

2(- In a hatch, the combination of a frame having an connecting one of said sections, designated the first section, to the frame at the end member, hoist elements attached to the cover for lifting and folding together the first and second sections and located in the vicinity of the hinge member between the first section and the second section, said first and second sections in opened up position having their normally lower surfaces toward each other, the third section in the vicinity of its hinging with said second section having fast to the third section at least one arm having an outer end and shoulder thereon below said second section, and a guide rail fast with respect to the frame adjacent a wall thereof and having an under engagement face inclined downwardly and extending to the end member for engaging over said shoulder and causing the arm to pivot at the hinging between the second and third sections to turn the third section to vertical position when that section and the arm are moved generally toward the end member. I

3. In a hatch, the combination of a frame having an end member and side walls, a cover comprising at least three sections, which when in normally closed position have lower surfaces lying in about the same plane, a plurality of hinge members interconnecting said sections, and connecting one of said sections, designated the first section, to the frame at the end member, hoist elements attached to the cover for lifting and folding together the first andsecond sections and located in the vicinity of the hinge member between the first section. and the second section, said first and second sections in opened up position having their normally lower surfaces toward each other, the third section in the vicinity of its hinging with said second section having fast to the third section at least one arm having an outer end and shoulder thereon below said second section, and a guide rail fast with respect to the frame adjacent a wall thereof and having an under engagement face inclined downwardly and extending to the end member for engaging over said shoulder and causing the arm to pivot at the hinging between the second and third sections to turn the third section to vertical position when that section and the arm are moved generally toward the end member, said hinge members connecting the first section to the frame being provided with adjustable friction means to retard the closing of the first section upon the frame.

4. In a hatch as claimed in claim 3 said hinge member connecting the first section to the frame comprising two hinge plates and a third therebetween and a transverse pintle member passing through the three plates provided 5. In a hatch as claimed in claim 4, said pintle member being an eye bolt.

6. In a cover as claimed in claim 5 and friction disks between the inner and outer hingle plates.

end member and side walls, ;a cover comprising at least three sections, which when in normally closed position have lower surfaces lying in about the same plane, a plu- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 781,665 Kusch Feb. 7, 1905 2,268,192 Davis 61; al. DEC. 30, 1941 2,771,136 Lecomte Nov. 20, 1956 2,780,197 V011 Tell Feb. 5, 1957 

